European Club Championship Update

The European Club Championships in Riccione, Italy Started on the 18th September and go on till the 21st September. IRELAND has an entry in the women’s – represented by Sutton LTC and in the men’s by Fitzwilliam LTC.  Sutton are seeded 6th out of 10 teams and Fitzwilliam 7th out of 17 teams.

Fitzwilliam LTC have had a good pool with 2 wins out of 3 matches. They beat Herlev-Hjorten Squash of Denmark 3.-1 and also beat Petroholding Squash Club from Ukraine 3-1. Unfortunately they lost 4-0 to a very strong professional team from Mulhouse Squash Club [M]

Fitzwilliam have qualified for the main draw (places 1-8) where they play Paderborner Squash Club which will be a tough challenge. Paderborner have a long tradition in the ECC having won the event on a number of occasions. They have professional players playing for them so are tough opposition.

Sutton LTC  (pictured on the right) had a more difficult time in the women’s event unfortunately losing their 4 matches. They played teams from Italy, England, Czech and Poland. In the 9th/10th play off they play Stockholm SC on Saturday 21st.

Fitzwilliam had a very tough match in the 1-8 play offs versus a fully professional team from Paderborner Squash Club who are seeded 1. As expected Fitz lost 4-0. In the next match Fitz had a superb victory over  Squash Club Sandweiler  from Luxembourg 3-1 with Niall Rooney, Nigel Peyton and Conor O’Hare recording wins. The only player to lose was the experienced Derek Ryan who played Dylan Bennett in a cracking 5 setter.

Next onto the 5/6th play off vs. Helsinki Senators which unfortunately Fitz lost 3-1. Nigel Peyton being the only winner in this match. So Fitzwilliam finish in 6th place, one better than their seeding which all in all was a very good result.

In the Women’s event Sutton LTC had a tough opening couple of matches with a very inexperienced team. in the 9th/10th play off they faced Swedish opposition in Stockholm SC which they lost 3-0. Stephanie Ryan had a great 5 setter in her match just losing out 11-7 in the 5th. A great experience for the Sutton team to participate in this great event.

The winner of the women’s event was Pontefract beating Mulhouse Squash Club in the final 2-1. in the men’s Black & White RC Worms e.V. from Germany beat Mulhouse Squash Club  3-0 in a very one sided final.

The Draw for the ECC 2013 may be found on the ECC event website:

http://www.federsquash.it/european-club-championship-2013/draws.html